Census: Texas Leads Nation in Total Growth

The Lone Star State leads the nation in total population growth, according to new figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

From July 2015 to July 2016, Texas added 432,957 new residents, more than any other state, which brought the population to almost 28 million, according to this latest census data. Following Texas in population gains were Florida (367,525), California (256,077), Washington (127,710), Arizona (113,506), North Carolina (111,602), Georgia (110,973), Colorado (91,726), Oregon (68,831), and South Carolina (66,285).

Although Texas topped the list of the states where the sheer number of people rose, Utah ranked highest in percentage growth during this period. The Beehive State’s two percent population explosion pushed them over the 3 million mark for the first time, making Utah the nation’s fastest growing. Nevada placed second in percentage growth followed by Idaho, Florida, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, and the District of Columbia. Texas ranked ranked 10th with just under a 1.6 percent population change from the previous year.

“States in the South and West continued to lead in population growth,” said Ben Bolender, the bureau’s chief of the population estimates branch. “In 2016, 37.9 percent of the nation’s population lived in the South and 23.7 percent lived in the West.”

Texas came in second to California as the nation’s most populous state. Over 39,250,000 people call the Golden State home. Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan rounded out the top 10.

Domestic migration, a term demographers use to describe when people move from one state to another, has played a key role in the Texas population boom. Nearly 500,000 individuals relocated to Texas between July 2014 and July 2015, more than in any other state, Breitbart Texas reported. Combined with the latest statistics, the state added nearly 1 million new Texans over the past two years. A contributing factor has been the business-friendly climate.

In May, Breitbart Texas reported Chief Executive Magazine named Texas the nation’s best state to do business for the 12th consecutive year. Between 2008 and 2014, California corporations accounted for 219 or 15 percent of companies that moved their headquarters or expanded operations into Texas. Over the past seven years, Texas has been the number one state where California businesses relocate. In 2015, Texas placed second on the Fortune 500 list, with 54 companies, edging out California, which had 53. New York came in first.

In 2014-15, Texas housed five of the nation’s 11 fastest-growing suburbs with populations of 50,000 or more: Georgetown, New Braunfels, Frisco, Pearland, and Pflugerville. Also, five of the eight U.S. metropolitan areas to add the most people were Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Dallas, and Austin.

Texas Population Projections 2010 to 2050 predicted the state’s population could double by 2050 if current migration patterns continue at the same pace seen from 2000 to 2010. The Office of the State Demographer anticipated Texas could house 54.4 million people based on immigration and domestic migration. In 2000, the state’s population was nearly 21 million.

Current Census Bureau estimates do not address the state’s foreign-born, refugee, or illegal immigrant populations. However, Breitbart Texas reported:

The most recent figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed that in the 2016 fiscal year, authorities have encountered 68,080 family units, the term used to describe underage immigrants accompanied by at least one adult relative. That figure is already higher than the 66,144 family units apprehended in 2014. In the case of underage immigrants, during 2016, authorities have apprehended 54,052, in comparison to the 66,115 underage immigrants detained in 2014.

Overall, U.S. population grew by 0.7 percent to 323.1 million based on these new census findings. Voting-age residents age 18 and up increased to 249.5 million, comprising 77.2 percent of the nation’s population in 2016, a 0.9 percent increase from the previous year. Eight states saw population dips between 2015 and 2016, including Pennsylvania, New York, and Wyoming. Illinois lost more people (-37,508) than any other state.

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